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Obama Unveils Proposals for Toughening Laws on Guns
Obama to ‘Put Everything I’ve Got’ Into Gun Control
(about 9 hours later)
WASHINGTON — President Obama called upon Congress on Wednesday to toughen America’s gun laws to confront mass shootings and everyday gun violence, betting that public opinion has shifted enough to support the broadest push for gun control in a generation.
WASHINGTON — Four days before taking the oath of office, President Obama on Wednesday staked the beginning of his second term on an uphill quest to pass the broadest gun control legislation in a generation.
At a White House event at noon, Mr. Obama announced plans to introduce legislation by next week that includes a ban on new assault weapons, limits on high-capacity magazines, expanded background checks for gun purchases and tougher gun trafficking laws to crack down on the spread of weapons across the country.
In the aftermath of the Connecticut school massacre, Mr. Obama vowed to rally public opinion to press a reluctant Congress to ban military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, expand background checks, and toughen gun-trafficking laws. Recognizing that the legislative fight could be long and difficult, the president also took immediate steps by issuing a series of executive actions intended to reduce gun violence.
Without waiting for Congress, the president also acted on his own authority, signing nearly two-dozen executive actions designed to increase the enforcement of existing gun laws and improve the flow of information among federal agencies in order to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and others who shouldn’t have them.
Surrounded by children who wrote him letters seeking curbs on guns, Mr. Obama committed himself to a high-profile and politically volatile campaign behind proposals assembled by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. that will test the administration’s strength heading into the next four years. The first big push of Mr. Obama’s second term, then, will come on an issue that was not even on his to-do list on Election Day when voters renewed his lease on the presidency.
The announcement, just four days before Mr. Obama and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. are sworn in for a second term, committed the administration to a high-profile and politically volatile legislative campaign that will test their strength for the four years to come. Mr. Obama vowed to rally the nation on an issue he largely avoided in his first term and during both of his presidential campaigns.
“I will put everything I’ve got into this,” Mr. Obama said, “and so will Joe.”
“I will put everything I’ve got into this, and so will Joe,” he declared.
The emotionally charged ceremony, attended by family members of those killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., reflected a decision by the White House to seize on public outrage to challenge the political power of the National Rifle Association and other forces that have successfully fought new gun laws for decades.
The president’s pledge to act was the culmination of a monthlong process that began after the massacre of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. In the wake of the shootings, Mr. Obama promised action, but it was not immediately clear how far he was willing to go in the face of intense political opposition.
The White House is planning a multifaceted effort to sell its plans, including speeches around the country by the president and vice president and concerted lobbying by interest groups to influence several dozen lawmakers from both parties seen as critical to passage. The White House created a Web page with video testimonials from victims of gun violence and a sign-up for supporters to help advocate the president’s plan.
Wednesday’s announcement reflected a decision by the White House to seize on public outrage to challenge the political power of the National Rifle Association and other forces that have successfully fought new gun laws for decades.
“I tell you, the only way we can change is if the American people demand it,” Mr. Obama said. “And, by the way, that doesn’t just mean from certain parts of the country. We’re going to need voices in those areas, in those Congressional districts where the tradition of gun ownership is strong, to speak up and to say this is important. It can’t just be the usual suspects.”
In an emotionally charged event, Mr. Obama stood on a stage with four young children who he said had written to him asking for stronger gun laws. Invoking the memory of a young girl named Grace McDonnell who was killed in the Newtown shootings, the president vowed not to let the momentum for new, tougher gun laws fade.
The N.R.A. made clear that it was ready for a fight. Even before the president’s speech, it broadcast a provocative video calling Mr. Obama an “elitist hypocrite” for opposing more armed guards in schools while his daughters had Secret Service protection. After the speech the group said it would work to secure schools, fix the mental health system and prosecute criminals but criticized the president’s other proposals. “Attacking firearms and ignoring children is not a solution to the crisis we face as a nation,” the N.R.A. said in a statement. “Only honest, law-abiding gun owners will be affected, and our children will remain vulnerable to the inevitability of more tragedy.”
“In the days ahead, I intend to use whatever weight this office holds to make them a reality,” he said. “If there’s even one life that can be saved, then we’ve got an obligation to try.”
Mr. Obama’s plan included 4 major legislative proposals and 23 executive actions that he initiated on his own authority to bolster enforcement of existing laws, improve the nation’s database used for background checks and otherwise make it harder for criminals and people with mental illness to get guns.
Speaking to a room packed with gun control advocates and family members of shooting victims, Mr. Obama said that a painting by Grace, given to him by Grace’s father, hangs in his private study in the White House. He said the painting serves as a reminder of his obligation to protect “the most vulnerable” members of society.
Mr. Obama asked Congress to reinstate and strengthen a ban on the sale and production of assault weapons that passed in 1994 and expired in 2004. He also called for a ban on the sale and production of magazines with more than 10 rounds, like those used in Newtown and other mass shootings. Mr. Obama’s plan would require criminal background checks for all gun sales, closing the longstanding loophole that allows buyers to avoid screening by purchasing weapons from unlicensed sellers at gun shows or in private sales. Nearly 40 percent of all gun sales are exempt from the system.
“This is our first task as a society,” Mr. Obama said. “Keeping our children safe. This is how we will be judged. And their voices should compel us to change.”
He also proposed legislation banning the possession or transfer of armor-piercing bullets and cracking down on “straw purchasers,” those who pass background checks and then forward guns to criminals or others forbidden from purchasing them.
The effort will be difficult and risky, as administration officials have acknowledged. Bruce Reed, the chief of staff for Mr. Biden, told a group of liberal activists on Tuesday night that passing the president’s proposals in Congress will be even tougher than it was to pass an assault-weapons ban in 1994, according to participants at the briefing.
For Mr. Obama, the plan represented a political pivot. While he has always expressed support for an assault weapons ban, he has made no real effort to pass it on the assumption that the votes were not there. But he and the White House are banking on the idea that the Newtown shooting has changed the dynamics. “I have never seen the nation’s conscience so shaken by what happened at Sandy Hook,” Mr. Biden said Wednesday. “The world has changed and is demanding action.”
A spokesman for House Speaker John A. Boehner said in a statement that “House committees of jurisdiction will review these recommendations. And if the Senate passes a bill, we will also take a look at that.”
The future of the plan may depend on how much political energy Mr. Obama puts behind it, not just to pressure Republicans but to win over Democrats who support gun rights. Even the White House considers passage of a new assault weapons ban exceedingly difficult, but there did seem to be some consensus building for expanding background checks.
Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, considered a contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, quickly made it clear that Mr. Obama’s proposals will face intense opposition in Congress.
Senator Charles E. Schumer, a New York Democrat and a longtime gun control supporter, made no mention of the assault weapons ban in a statement but pointed to the background checks. “If you look at the combination of likelihood of passage and effectiveness of curbing gun crime,” he said, “universal background checks is at the sweet spot.”
“Nothing the president is proposing would have stopped the massacre at Sandy Hook,” Mr. Rubio said. “President Obama is targeting the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens instead of seriously addressing the real underlying causes of such violence.”
On the other side, Representative Robert W. Goodlatte, Republican of Virginia, who is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, dismissed an assault weapons ban as ineffective. “But in terms of background checks, in terms of keeping weapons out of the hands of criminals and people who have serious mental health difficulties, we want to do that, and we would take a close look at that,” he told C-Span.
But the White House believes that the dynamic around guns may be changing, and that the president has a window of opportunity that he cannot pass up. Mr. Obama and Mr. Biden will take their message across the country even as the White House and its allies begin an online effort to put pressure on lawmakers.
Gun control groups said they would campaign hard for the president’s proposals. Mark Glaze, director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, said his group would focus on as many as 25 Congressional districts, including those of Democrats and Republicans. “We will be doing what we can do to make sure that sitting on their hands is the least safe place to be,” he said.
“I have never seen the nation’s conscience so shaken by what happened at Sandy Hook,” Mr. Biden said. “The world has changed, and is demanding action.”
Senator Bob Casey, Democrat of Pennsylvania, a gun rights supporter, said he re-evaluated his position after Newtown. “I was shaken by it, and that caused me to think in a much more probing way about the policy,” he said in an interview. “If it has anywhere near the impact on others that it did on me, then I think the ground shifted a lot.”
The N.R.A. appeared ready for the fight. It said it would work with Congress on efforts to secure schools, fix the mental health system and prosecute criminals but criticized Mr. Obama’s proposals. “Attacking firearms and ignoring children is not a solution to the crisis we face as a nation,” the group said in a statement. “Only honest, law-abiding gun owners will be affected and our children will remain vulnerable to the inevitability of more tragedy.”
But Mr. Obama’s plans still generated strong opposition. “Nothing the president is proposing would have stopped the massacre at Sandy Hook,” said Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida. “President Obama is targeting the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens instead of seriously addressing the real underlying causes of such violence.”
On Tuesday, it posted a video mocking Mr. Obama for opposing armed guards at the nation’s schools even as his own daughters have Secret Service protection. The video calls the president an “elitist hypocrite.”
Other Republicans echoed those sentiments. “The Second Amendment is nonnegotiable,” said Representative Tim Huelskamp of Kansas.
The White House issued an angry response to the ad. “Most Americans agree that a president’s children should not be used as pawns in a political fight,” said Jay Carney, the White House press secretary. “But to go so far as to make the safety of the president’s children the subject of an attack ad is repugnant and cowardly.”
Representative Dan Benishek of Michigan said in a Twitter message: “Let me be clear, I will fight any efforts to take our guns. Not on my watch.”
The president and Mr. Biden on Wednesday described their plan as a comprehensive effort that includes four major legislative proposals and 23 separate executive actions.
Also Wednesday, Mr. Obama nominated B. Todd Jones, the acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, to lead an agency that has not had a Senate-confirmed director since 2006.
The president called for renewing and strengthening a ban on the sale and production of military-style assault weapons that first passed in 1994 only to expire in 2004. He also called for a ban on the sale and production of magazines with more than 10 rounds, limiting the sorts of high-capacity clips like those used in Newtown as well as other mass shootings at Virginia Tech, a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., and a congresswoman’s public event in Tucson, Ariz.
The 23 executive actions Mr. Obama signed on Wednesday were largely modest initiatives to toughen enforcement of existing laws and to encourage federal agencies and state governments to share more information. Mr. Obama lifted a ban on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from conducting research on gun violence and directed that a letter be sent to health care providers saying doctors may ask patients about guns in their homes.
Mr. Obama’s plan also would require criminal background checks for all gun sales, closing the longstanding loophole that allows buyers to avoid such screening by purchasing weapons at gun shows or from private sellers. The background database, in place since 1996, has stopped 1.5 million sales to felons, fugitives, convicted domestic abusers and others, but today nearly 40 percent of all gun sales are exempt from the system.
Several Republicans accused Mr. Obama of flouting Congress. “Using executive action to attempt to poke holes in the Second Amendment is a power grab,” said Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa.
Administration officials called the enhanced background check requirements the single most important thing that could be done to prevent gun violence and mass shootings. The only exceptions would be transfers between family members and certain “temporary transfers” for hunting and sporting purposes.
Reporting
was contributed by Charlie Savage, Jennifer Steinhauer and Jonathan Weisman.
The administration also said it will strengthen the background check system by addressing legal barriers that keep some mental health records out of the database, improve incentives for states to share records and direct law enforcement agencies to crack down on those who evade the background check system.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Mr. Obama called on Congress to ban the possession or transfer of armor-piercing bullets and urged lawmakers to crack down on “straw purchasers” who can pass background checks and then pass along guns to criminals or others forbidden from purchasing them.
The legislative effort will start in the Senate, which remains under Democratic control, unlike the House, which is led by Republicans. Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont and chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said he would hold the first hearings into the proposals on Jan. 30.
In the House, Representative John Kline of Minnesota, the Republican chairman of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, said he would “review carefully” the president’s proposals and would have a hearing “in the coming weeks” on how to enhance school safety.
Representative Bob Goodlatte, a Virginia Republican and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, which has jurisdiction over gun legislation, expressed skepticism about the assault weapon ban but openness to toughening background checks. He noted that the gunman in Connecticut obtained the weapons he used from his mother, rather than by purchasing them.
“If you’re talking about reinstating the assault weapons ban or some other effort that’s been made in recent years, we don’t find that those things would lead to preventing these types of activities from occurring,” Mr. Goodlatte said on C-Span. “But we certainly in terms of background checks, in terms of keeping weapons out of the hands of criminals and people who have serious mental health difficulties, we want to do that and we would take a close look at that.”
Representative Tim Huelskamp, Republican of Kansas, drew a firm line. “The Second Amendment is non-negotiable,” he said. “The right to bear arms is a right, despite President Obama’s disdain for the Second Amendment and the Constitution’s limits on his power.”
At the White House on Wednesday, Mr. Obama also said he will nominate a new director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the agency that regulates guns but has gone six years without a permanent leader confirmed by the Senate. Mr. Obama settled on Todd Jones, who has been acting director since September 2011.
In addition to the legislative efforts, White House officials stressed the actions that Mr. Obama is now taking on his own. In recent days, gun rights advocates have accused the president of a power grab, saying they feared he would exceed his executive authority in an attempt to take their guns away.
In fact, the list of executive actions is relatively modest, with most of the steps involving the president directing agencies to do a better job of sharing information.
Among the executive actions: to “launch a national safe and responsible gun ownership campaign”; to “review safety standards for gun locks and gun safes”; and to “direct the attorney general to issue a report on the availability and most effective use of new gun safety technologies.”
The president also promises to “launch a national dialogue” on mental health led by Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, and Arne Duncan, the education secretary.
Mr. Obama was also expected to lift a 15-year-old ban on the Centers for Disease Control from conducting research on gun violence.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: January 16, 2013
Correction: January 16, 2013
An earlier version of this article suggested that several recent mass shootings involved 30-round magazines. While they all involved high-capacity clips, not all of them used clips that held 30 rounds.
An earlier version of this article suggested that several recent mass shootings involved 30-round magazines. While they all involved high-capacity clips, not all of them used clips that held 30 rounds.
